Mules = Cheating?Follow

Another thread got me thinking about this one, so I figured I'd rouse some debate. =)

Personally, I don't feel that mules constitute cheating. (Disclaimer: I own one mule). There is nothing in the ToS against this, and furthermore you are paying an additional monthly fee for the right to have a mule. The fact that you have 10 character slots, and that every time you add a new character they are placed on the same server your main character is placed on, tells me that SquEnix:

A) Intended for multiple people in one household to have multiple characters, so that those in a household could share Items/Gil.

B) Intended for one person to be able to own multiple characters to experience playing as a member of the various races and genders.

C) Intended for one person to be able to own multiple characters to hold and manage items and Gil for other characters on the same account.

Sure, I think that having 10 characters and gardening with 50 pots on each character is overkill, but if they want to pay the extra money each month, and they want to do all the work involved in that, so be it. Anything that makes playing through this game easier, and is inside the rules, is fine by me.

LOL....takes all kinds, I guess. ^^

a mule can be looked at like a squire (for knights purpose) they are a small/useless character who runs around helping out the all powerful character... hopeing that one day they will be given some attention and have the ability to work up the ranks...

so is it wrong for me (THE ALL POWERFUL CHARACTER, hehehe) to have a squire... hell no; they can marvel at all the items that go through their inventory, and one day i may just switch over and start leveling, said squire.

(Next paragraph is based on a rl playing character not bot)
(anything w/a bot is 100% cheating - no if/ands/buts)

but then again, i personally don't believe someone over hunting NM's or farming where people are exp'ing (i really hate this one though) is wrong either... do i like it, HELL NO; it may not be polite, it may go against etiquette and all that kinda stuff... but this IS a competition, yes we CAN work together, but when it comes down to that xr drop, are you going to be the first to pass because i need gil?

i don't know if there over-farming for their own items or to trade for rl money... and really its none of my business... i'm still a NEWB lvl.36 being highest level, so my attitude may change when i hit 60 or 70... but as for right now...

i do the best i can with what i got... i know i've stolen other peoples mobs and over/under cut pricing markets and that people have been pissed at me for not raising or curing or pl'ing... but you know what...

**** happens

Vawn, I completely agree that the game was designed to encourage players to spend extra money each month for extra storage space. In fact, they were even nice enough to make it an affordable $1/month. :) It's definately a planned money maker for SE.

I understand what you are saying now. Not necessarily cheating in a negative context, but more like a "special advantage" that others may or may not have.

Cheating = cheating.
Mules = necessary for anyone who mines...

i do if im bored, altho now ive been boneworking on my mule more than anything else ; ;

Are you serious....?

mules cheating ahahaha your funny guy first of all that person is paying for the mule seacong all the item for that mule third its like buying a shed and using it.....

please dont ask stupid questions

You obvoiusly didn't read my post. =/

I have 16 slots.

I agree with most people. Mules are nice to have. My mule is my first character that I didn't want to delete since I have a couple hundred thousand XP points invested in that character. A nice place to dump off excess equipment so I don't have to buy it again if I go level another related class or go back and level a subjob.

The only downside is that it helps players abuse the system easier. (e.g. if you have an account with 16 characters you could manipulate prices on AHs much much easier since having 112 slots is more powerful than just 7.)

Ok it sounds like most people agree getting through the game without a mule is almost impossible. (Or so inconvient that very few people would do it). We also all seem to agree that SE knows this too. Should we not be feeling ripped off that we have to pay extra RL money for the space? If everyone pretty much needs a mule or two, should these one or two characters be provided to players for free? You might say its "just $1 a month, don't worry about it", but a $1 every month is still money. If you have 3 mules, that's an extra $3 a month on top of what we are already paying. SE is making millions of dollars every month off of the mule system, mostly because they decided to give players very limited inventory space.

Yes, it is 3.00 more per month for my 3 mules and no I am not happy about the extra cost, But..

I have 2 choices:

1) Pay for the extra characters
2) Stop playing the game because without the space/convenience it is no longer fun

I think SE has integrated thIS restriction into the game simply to generate additional money in addition to:

Single concurrent account login possibility. I am one of 3 people in my house that plays and we have 2 active accounts. Expensive, but the only way to play together. We are still always fighting over play time..

I am hoping that one day I get bored with this game. It is too expensive, disruptive to my rl, and keeps me up too late at night for work the next day...

Unfortunately I love it, the friends I meet, the challenge of working together to achieve goals, the obsessive struggle to earn enough money to pay for the material things I need to be the best I can afford....wait....am I talking about the game or real life...

I'm gonna have to say, some very interesting views in this post. Well, there's always the fact that legally, Mules are not considered cheating in any way. The only way it would be is if it were moral. I, personally, do not use a mule, but that doesn't mean i look down on people who do. I encourage it! Mules are a great way to stimulate the vanadiel economy, putting alot of flow of items back into our AH. If you level a craft that nobody uses in a certain country and feel the need to jack up the prices a bit for profit, So be it! That makes the product available to all players, where as it was MUCH harder to get before hand. As for people jackin up prices in lvling areas on food items, Why the heck not? If you took your time to buy/make mithkabobs and you wanna sell them at a higher price to the lazy people that don't feel like walkin back to an ah, good for you! that's a good way to make profit and a valuable service to the community. Makes lvling up in valkurm a godsend! Always someone selling pies/kabobs, and i praise them for it, for i am a lazy, lazy man. :-) Plus, I tend to be one-track-minded. EX: I lvled my BLM to 17, then my whm to 36 so i could have teleports for myself, and if i'm short on gil provide a tele service for the community. I then proceeded to get all advanced jobs. Now i am leveling my SMN, the job i originally wanted in this game, and i'm very excited! I sold everything before i changed jobs. That's just how my mind works!

I like the idea of a mule being looked at like a knight's squire.

Even if you have 10 of them.